Over 1,70,000 aggrieved dairy farmers spread across 5000 villages in 22 districts have expressed their grave displeasure for non-inclusion amongst the beneficiary group of the recently announced subsidy under the Mukhyamantri Dugdh Sambal Yojna (MMDSY) by the Rajasthan Government. The scheme, effective from April 01, 2022, is currently applicable to only 5 lakh milk pourers associated with the Dairy Cooperatives.
The farmers representing 4 Milk producer companies namely Paayas (Jaipur), Ujalaa (Kota), Asha (Udaipur) and Sakhi (Alwar) have sought an appointment from the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Rajasthan to seek a level playing with equal benefits in comparison to beneficiaries of the scheme and also to apprise him of their concerns and consequences on their livelihood.
Recently, the Rajasthan Government introduced the first ever separate budget for agriculture and animal husbandry. Under its MMDSY scheme, the Government increased the subsidy from Rs 2 to Rs 5 per litre to those who supply milk to co-operatives associated with state dairy federation. The enhanced subsidy is intended to benefit around 5 lakh dairy farmers with an increased outlay of Rs 550 crore.
“We are proud to be a farmer owned institution working on the principle of mutual assistance, which are same as cooperative principles, thereby ensuring benefits to all associated members. We have made our own investments to be self-dependent and sell our own produce at right price like any other entity. With the discrimination of being left out from the scheme, we foresee our existence in grave danger. Government should not deprive us of such schemes aimed to benefit farmers.” said Manju Jakhad, Farmer Member, Paayas Milk Producer Company Ltd., Jaipur.
Smt. Rekha Mali, Farmer Member, Asha Mahila Milk Producer Company Ltd. Udaipur, stressed, “Our organization is 100% women owned organization and most of us solely rely on the income from dairy farming, hence keeping us left out from the beneficiary group will hamper the growth of our organization with an impact on members and ultimately the production. Government is always for masses and not for select class and I am confident that our Hon’ble Chief Minister will pay attention to our demands.”
The recently announced incentive will not only lead to disparity amongst dairy farmers but may also hamper the dairy ecosystem and milk production in the state. The subsidy may oust non beneficiary farmers owing to not getting right remuneration while taking up alternate income sources and move out of cattle farming creating a demand and supply mismatch situation.
These aggrieved farmers also plan to further strengthen their call if their demands remain unanswered. It may also be noted that these 4 milk producer companies contribute immensely to the dairy development of the state.